Hay-rack.



'HAY RAC| APPLICATION FILED 1AN.14.I916.

` lhl, Patented Apr. 2,1918` .i %Z $717@ .9912 C l l @I ,llIlllml Illlullh wiwi: "www l HMH r N M ATTORNEY IPARLEY ARNOLD, OF STOCKTON, ILLINOIS.

Speeieation of Letters Patent.

' Y HAY-RACK.

ldatented Apr. 2, 1918.

Application filed J' anuary 14, 1916. Serial 1\To. 72,154.

To @ZZ whom it may con cera.'

Be it known that I, Penner ARNOLD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stockton;y in the county of Jo Daviess and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hay-Racks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to fastening devices for removably supporting the sides of a hay rack upon the body thereof, and the primary object thereof is to provide a fastening device of this character which is formed from a single length of resilient material and which will effectively retain the sides of the hay raclr againstmovement.

The invention has for another object, the provision o f a simple form of fastening devices of the above character which will be composed of the minimum of pieces and will be readily secured in position to hold the sides of the rack upon the edges of the main portion or platform of said rack.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more specifically set forth, pointed out in the claims and shown in the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a elevation of my improved invention in use,

Fig. 2 is a detail section on the plane of line 2 2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail perspective of one of the clamps removed and,

Fig. 4 is a detail view of-one of the corner posts 0f the sides of the hay rack.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, l designates the platform of a hay rack upon which the sides 2 may be readilyT secured by my improved form of clamp, the lower ends 3 of the corner posts 4 of the sides 2 being reduced to provide shoulders 5 which are rectangular in cross section. It will be understood thatthe opposite corner posts 4 of the hay rack sides 2 are connected by suitable crossed transverse end members 6 to form the ends of the crib or rack.

My invention does not however reside in the specific construction of the hay rack but relates more particularly to a novel fastening means for securing the side of the hay rack to the bottom portion thereof. As is evident in the drawing one of my improved fastening devices is attached to each of the corner posts 4L as will be hereinafter pointed out. Each Vfastening device comprises a single piece of wire, preferably rod wire possessing the requisite strength and a certain amount of resiliency. ln forming the device, the wire is first bent upon itself to provide the bight 7 and spaced parallel legs 8 of a substantially U shaped loop. At a pointrremote from the bight 7 the legs 8 are turned downwardly to extend substantially at right angles as indicated at 9 and the free extremities of these portions 9 are then directed inwardly toward one another to provide the fingers 11. A plate 12 is slidably mounted upon the legs 8 by passing` said legs through suitable openings formed Vin the opposite end of the plate and the purpose of'this plate will be hereinafter set forth.

To assemble myV device with a hay rack as shown in Fig. 1, the plate 12 is firstl moved toward the bight 7 of the loop in order to allow the legs 8 to spread or be spread apart a sufficient distance to pass the fingers 11 over the beam 10 as shown in Fig. 1. The fastening device being formed of a resilient metal it will be appreciated that when the legs 8 are released after spreading, the same will be caused to engage opposite sides of the beam 10 to bring the fingers 11 into engagement with the under surface of said beam. The b'ight 7 of the loop extends outwardly beyond the platform and in spaced relation with the side edges to provide a space therebetween to receive the lower end 3 of the post 5, the shoulder of said post bearing upon the loop to prevent vertical movement thereof. The plate 12 is then moved into engagement with the upper face of the beam 10 and in this position will prevent spreading of the portions 9 and consequent disengagement of said portions and the fingers 11 from the beam. Whenever this plate is moved a eertain distance from the upper face of the beam it will be possible to move the portion 9 and fingers 11 away from each other the distance necessary to permit the device to be removed from said beam.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that minor changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the' advantages of the same.

claim:

l. rlhe combination with a hay rack inclnding a plurality of cross beams and Vertr cal Standards, oit fastening devices engaged with Said crees beanie to retain the standards in proper position, each of said Jfastening devices comprising a single piece ot wire bent to 'forni a U Shaped loop horizontally disposed to receive one of said stand ards, the side portions of the loop being` turned downwardly to engao'e opposite sides of one of Said beanie, and the extreme end of said downwardly turned portion being directed inwardly toward one another to provide lingers engaging the under face of the beain, and a plate slidably `mounted on the loop engageable with the upper face of the beam to `prevent spreading of said lingers.

2. AS anartiole of ina-nufaeture7 a fastening device of the character described, cornprising a single piece of wire bent to provide a substantially U shaped loop including parallel Side portions, the ends of said side portions being turned downwardly to eX- tend at right angles to said loop and being then directed inwardly tow ard one another to provide opposing fingers, and a retaining` plate slidably engaged with the side portion of the loop to retain the saine in proper relation to one another.

ln testimony whereof I ailix iny Signature in presence of two WtleSSeS.

PARLEY ARNOLD. lVitnesses YV, C. KINDERBACHER,

P. J. Moonn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofiatents,

Washingtonll). C. 

